Top 10 questions Tesla (TSLA) investors want answered in the Q4 2020 earnings call

Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) retail and institutional investors are aggregating a number of inquiries that will potentially be addressed by the electric car maker’s executives in the upcoming Q4 2020 earnings call, which will be held on Wednesday, January 27, 2021. The questions are aggregated from verified TSLA shareholders by Say, a startup that aims to create and develop investor communication tools.

Using the platform, Tesla’s retail and institutional investors have been submitting and voting on inquiries they wish to be discussed and clarified by the electric car maker. Here are a number of notable questions that garnered a high number of votes from the company’s retail and institutional shareholders.

RETAIL SHAREHOLDERS

1. What is currently holding Tesla back from being the market share leader in solar?
2. Why are you confident Tesla will achieve Level 5 autonomy in 2021 and why is Dojo not necessary to get there.
3. Can you give us a progress update on dry coating of the battery electrode? At Battery Day, Elon said “I would not say this is completely in the bag” yet as yields were low.
4. Could current owners get the ability to transfer their FSD to their next vehicle? This would be huge for loyalty and overall increase sales of vehicles while offering more FSD sales on the used vehicles.
5. What is Tesla doing to improve the service experience? Tesla HAD a reputation for outstanding customer service’ now it is impossible to even call a service center and appoints are scheduled weeks out.

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS

1. What are the key milestones we need to achieve in order to evolve current FSD to a commercial Level 4/5 Ridesharing solution?
2. Is it fair to argue that the best way to think about the company’s long-term earnings power is tied to profit/unit of battery capacity? 3 TWh target from Battery Day implies ~1/2 of LT battery capacity goes to storage depending on what you assume for pack size on Elon’s 20M unit goal?
3. Key differences in product, customer preferences, FSD strategy between China and the rest of the world? Do we need to do things differently to win the Chinese EV market?
4. With capacity currently under construction Model Y capacity will grow roughly 1 million units, which would be the second best-selling vehicle, albeit at a higher price point. What gives you confidence demand is there or does this require something new, like FSD/Tesla network?
5. What is Tesla’s current gigawatt-hour run rate for 4680 cell production and when do you expect the first vehicles to have 4680 cells?

Tesla is yet to fully confirm if it will be entertaining questions from Say in the upcoming Q4 earnings call, though the company has regularly addressed inquiries from retail shareholders in past quarters and for other events, like Battery Day. By doing so, Tesla is essentially democratizing the process of communicating its earnings to shareholders and institutional investors. Such a strategy is yet another step away from convention, considering that traditional earnings calls usually feature exclusive questions from Wall Street analysts and the occasional member of the media.

Tesla’s fourth-quarter earnings call is expected to be held on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time (6:30 p.m. Eastern Time).